Resilient sled.



F. G. MOPHERSON. RESILIENT SLED.

APPLIUATION FILED Nov.12, 1908.

943,448. Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

STATES PANT FFQE.

FRANK G'r. MCPHERSON, OF BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO THOMAS C. IVICPHERSON, OF BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

RESILIENT SLED.

antenas.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 19M).

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK G. MCPHER- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Resilient Sled, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to sleds, and particularly to sleds such as areused by children in which the runners are formed of bent rods or bars ofmetal.

One object of my invention is to provide a sled wherein the runners areformed of one piece of metal in the form of a bent bar or rod preferablyround in cross section.

Another object is to increase the resilient strength of such runners byproviding coils formed in said bars at the front or rear of the sled orboth the front and rear of the sled, which coil shall be compressed ortightened by any weight on the sled and act to take up the shock ofimpact or to resiliently support the weight of the rider.

Another object is to so locate the front coils of the runners that theyshall form closed eyes for the attachment of the drag loges llyinvention is shown in its preferable form in the accompanying drawings,where- 1n:-

Figure l is a perspective view of a sled made in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is an under side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryperspective of the rear supports and brace. Fig. 4 is a section of therear supports across the coils, the brace being shown in elevation.

Similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

2 designates the sled bottom preferably of wood. To the under side ofthe bottom the runners are secured as usual. Each one of these iscomposed of a bar of metal preferably steel and preferably round insection, this steel rod being suflicient in size and weight to give thedesired strength to the sled and elasticity to the runners. Preferablyboth runners are made in one continuous solid piece of metal bent in thefollowing manner. 4 designates a forward cross piece which contacts withthe sled bottom and is held thereto by the cleats 10 at opposite ends.Beyond the cleats the bar is bent outward at right angles to the crosspiece 4 as at 5a. It is then downwardly and inwardly coiled at 6a andextended in a curve downward and rearward to the rear of the sled,preferably to a point beyond the bottom to form the runner 3a. At 7at-he rod is bent upward and in the same plane with the runner portion 3ato form a heel, is then extended upward and forward for a distance as at7', then formed into an inwardly projecting coil 8f, and then extendedupward and forward to a point vertically forward of the coil, and isthen bent at right angles transversely to form the rear cross piece 9which is attached to the sled by the cleats 10. After crossing the sledbottom, the bar extends downward and rearward to form a portion 7, iscoiled as at 8b, extended downward and rearward, as at 7 to the level ofthe runner 31 to form a. heel, is bent forward to form the runner properand at its forward end is gradually extended upward to a point above thesled bottom, is coiled as at 6b, and then extended rearwardly as at 5bto the cross piece 4.

It will be seen from the drawings and the description above that thebottom of the sled is supported at points between the two coils 6a and6b and 7a and 7b, and that thus a resilient pivotal suspension isattained which allows the sled bottom to give in unison with the naturalspring or flexibility of the runner frame itself, and that it followsfrom this description and from the fact that the coils are turned inwardthat a depression of the bottom 2 acts to close or tighten the coils,thus the coils take up any sudden jar, act to resiliently support theweight of a person on the sled, and greatly increase the totalresiliency of the sled frame.

In order to prevent the runners from spreading, ay cross brace ll isattached between the runners, preferably at the rear coils @1 -8". Thisbrace is formed of a metal bar having its ends bent around the ruimerbar at the coils as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and riveted. The particularadvantage in attaching this brace to the coils and not to any otherportion of the supporting part of the runner is that it is more easilyfastened to the coils and held in'place, the coils preventing anyslipping or sliding of the brace up or down the support should it becomeloosened. While the brace is of value in preventing any spreading of theopposed runners, it is not absolutely necessary as the fact that therunners are formed of one piece of resilient metal coiled as describedand provided with the rectangular bends at the junction of the crosspieces t with the runners, act to prevent any inde pendent sidewisemovement of the runners, if the material thereof has suflicient crosssection and torsional strength.

It will be seen that the runner bar after being formed into the rearcoil extends upward and forward to a point forward of the coil, and thatthe portion 7 which forms an arm of the spring, is at an inclinerelative to the runner, and hence that a depressive movement of the end7 caused by weight or jar upon the sled, acts to tighten the coil. Itwill also be seen that the sled bottom is connected to the forward coilsby the relatively long arm 5l or 5b and that the elasticity of the sleddepends also somewhat upon the length or backward reach of these partswhich form the arms of the front coil.

I have shown the coils 8a and 8b as formed at a point midway between thebottom of the runners and the bottom of the seat. I do not wish to belimited to this as the rear coils might be formed at the junction of therunners and part 7 with the same effect. The location shown is howeverpreferable, as the coil is raised and therefore will not contact withsnow to impede the progress of the sled and will not become choked orlilled with ice.

The forward coils being closed, not only act to increase the resiliencyof the sled, but also form eyes for the attachment of drag ropes, atransverse bar 1l might also be attached to the front coils as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2, if desired though I do not regard this asnecessary. Ihe cleats which connect the cross bars to the sled bottom donot necessarily bind very tightly upon the cross bars. A certain amountof rotative movement vmay be permitted between the cleats and the crossbars to permit of a still further elastic yielding and iexibility of thesled under impact.

My sled is very simply made, is strong and durable, and is far moreelastic under heavy weight than other sleds of analogous construction,for the reason as pointed out that use is made not only of the naturalre siliency of the metal rodsor bars, but of the resiliency of coilswhose arms support the sled bottom.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation andmany advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minordetails of construction, may be resorted to without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A sled having runners thereon, each of said runners being formed of aresilient bar provided with an upwardly projecting supporting portionadapted to support a sled bottom and each provided with an inwardlyextending coil formed therewith one end of said coils supporting thedownward pressure on the sled and said coils adapted to be contracted bya movement of the bottom toward the runners.

2. A sled having runners thereon made of one resilient bar, each of saidrunners being formed with an outwardly projecting upwardly extendingforward portion, a coil at the extremity thereof and an inwardly bentarm engaging beneath the bottom of the sled, the rear part of eachrunner being formed with an inwardly projecting portion, a coil thereon,and a continuation forming a support for the rear end of the sledbottom, said coils supporting the downward pressure on the sled bottom.

3. A sled having spring runners formed of resilient bars, each of saidrunners consisting of a portion forming the runner proper, then upwardlyand forwardly extended, then formed into a helical coil, and 9 thenextended rearward beneath a sled bottom said coils supporting thedownward pressure on the sled bottom.

4t. In a sled, a bottom, helical spring coils forward of the bottom, onearm of each coil extending rearward to support the forward end of thebottom by the resiliency of the coil, the other arm of said coilextending downward and rearward to form a runner proper and thenextending upward to support the rear end of the bottom.

5. In a sled, a bottom, spring coils located forward of the bottom onopposite sides thereof, one arm of each coil extending rearward andsupporting the forward end of the bottom, the other arm of said coilextending downward and rearward to form a runner proper to a pointrearward of the bottom, then extended upward and inward, then formedinto a coil, and then extended upward forward and attached to the rearend of the bottom of the sled said coils supporting pressure on the sledbottom.

6. In a sled, a pair of runners formed of one continuous piece of metal,the forward ends of said runners being formed with inwardly projectingclosed helical coils providing eyes for the attachment of a rope,

and resiliently supporting the sled bottom.

7. In a sled, runners formed of elastic metal rods upwardly turned attheir ends and there formed with inwardly extending coils, theextensions of said coils extending inward to the sled bottom andattached to and resiliently supporting the same.

8. In a sled, a sled bottom, and runners formed of one continuousresilient bar, said bar extending across the under side of the bottom toform a cross piece, then extending.,` forwardly beyond the bottom, therecoiled in a circle and extended downwardly and rearwardly of the sledbottom to form a runner, then extended upwardly, coiled in a circle andextended forwardly to the under side of the sled bottom and then bentacross said sled bottom to form a cross piece, then downwardly andrearwardly, then coiled in a circle, then extended rearwardly to form aheel, then forwardly and upwardly to form a runner, then coiled in acircle and extended rearwardly and there joined to the forward crosspiece, said cross pieces being attached to the bottom of the sled.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoattixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK G. MCPHERSON.

IVitnesses:

JOHN E. EWING, EARL R. LEYDA.

